TV News: Portlandia, Shannara, Crime, Extant

PortlandiaIFC has renewed its Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein-led comedy series “Portlandia” for both a sixth and seventh season. Ten half-hour episodes will be produced for each with the current team all returning for the new episodes. The show is currently in the midst of airing its fifth season on Thursday nights. [Source: IFC]

ShannaraThree more names have signed on for MTV’s “The Shannara Chronicles,” the upcoming fantasy series based on the novels by Terry Brooks. Filming is currently underway in New Zealand.

Brooke Williams will play the witty and wise elf Catania, the handmaiden and best friend of Amberle (Poppy Drayton). Also onboard are Daniel MacPherson as Arion, the heir to the Elven throne. Finally Marcus Vanco will appear as Bandon, a man who has mysterious visions and whom Allanon (Manu Bennett) takes special interest in. [Source: Variety]

Brothers In Crime“The Walking Dead” executive producer Gale Anne Hurd has signed on to adapt Swedish drama “Brothers in Crime”. The story revolves around three childhood best friends, now partners in a construction business, who find themselves on the wrong end of a bank loan.

Their only option is doing one criminal job in order to keep themselves and their families off the streets. Nick Cassavetes will executive produce and direct, while Cliff Dorfman will adapt the original series and executive produce. [Source: The Live Feed]

Getting OnHBO has renewed the hospital comedy “Getting On” for a third and final season of six episodes. Based on the British series of the same name, Getting On centers on the doctors and nurses who comprise a women’s geriatric wing at a beleaguered hospital as they struggle with the realities of caring for the elderly amid an overwhelmed heath care system. [Source: The Live Feed]

ExtantDavid Morrissey (“The Walking Dead”) has joined the cast of the second season of CBS’ summer mystery thriller “Extant”. In the second season, Halle Berry’s Molly character has discovered she has put the human race on a path to destruction,

Morrissey will recur as Gen. Tobias Shepherd, a celebrated general and head of the global security commission who has a personal history with Molly which complicates his work. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Pierce Gagnon and Grace Gummer are also onboard for the new season. [Source: The Live Feed]